News

Close day of racing sees NZ finish second in Japan

Posted by SLSNZ Media on Monday, July 20, 2015

Incredibly close racing on day two of the Sanyo Bussan
International Lifesaving Cup saw the Kiwis narrowly beaten by
Australia in Japan overnight.

The Kiwis finished three points ahead of the Australians after
day one but with the Australians finishing seven points ahead of
the Kiwis on day two, the Aussies narrowly took the overall lead
with 650 points, followed by the Kiwis with 646 points and a strong
Japanese team in third with 551 points.

They were followed by the Japan Youth team with 475 points,
Canada (416), Hong Kong (324) and Chinese Taipei (104).

Assistant team manager Steve Vaughan says it's been a great few
days for the team in Japan and they all performed incredibly well.
"We're extremely proud of their achievements," he says.

The second day of racing saw the team of eight added another 17
medals to the 19 they won on the first day of racing at Aoshima
Beach in Miyazaki, Japan.

The gold medals came in fast with Mairangi Bay's Danielle
McKenzie and Midway's Cory Taylor winning their respective board
races. The pair added to that by also taking out the women's and
men's iron.

The women's board rescue saw Japan take their first win of the
competition with the Kiwis coming in second. The men's board rescue
also saw the Kiwi boys take silver.

In the surf races, St Clair's Carina Doyle took her second
individual silver of the competition with Piha's Hannah Williams in
sixth. In the men's, Beattie took the silver with Papamoa's Ben
Johnston coming in seventh.

On the beach, Fitzroy's Zoe Hobbs and Mairangi Bay's Jake Hurley
replicated their efforts on day one, taking gold in the women's and
men's beach sprints. Also replicating the efforts of day one, both
the men's and women's teams won their beach relay events.

In some of the final events of the day, Hurley took the day's
first bronze in the men's beach flags and both the men's and
women's taplin teams grabbed silver. The women added another bronze
to the tally in the tube with the boys taking out the final tube
race.

Going into the second day of competition, New Zealand team coach
Jason Pocock says they were primarily focused on what got them
through the first day; clear race plans and good decision
making.

"The team raced with confidence and intelligence across the
competition. All of the athletes really stood up. It is amazing to
think we were the only team of eight athletes, rather than 10," he
says.

The athletes, along with Pocock, Vaughan and Youth Team coach
Jonelle Quane, depart Japan today and arrive back in Auckland on
Wednesday.